The Trial of a Time Lord: Terror of the Vervoids by: Pip and Jane Baker directed by: Chris Clough

Terror of the Vervoids stars Colin Baker as the Doctor, Bonnie Langford as Melanie, Michael Jayston as the Valeyard, and Linda Bellingham as the Inquisitor with Honor Blackman as Professor Lasky and Michael Craig as Commodore Travers.  It was written by: Pip and Jane Baker and directed by: Chris Clough, with John Nathan-Turner as Script Editor and Producer.  It was originally broadcast on Saturdays from 1 to 22 November 1986 on BBC1.

 

It is fitting that between reviewing Mindwarp and Terror of the Vervoids a lengthy period of time and upheaval occurred as it mirrors the state of the Doctor Who Production Team.  Originally to be split into three stories, two linked written by David Halliwell and Jack Trevor Story respectively and a final story by Robert Holmes.  Both writers were rejected and the episodes reallocated to two stories, a four-part story where the Doctor provides his defense and a two-part final battle.  Christopher H. Bidmead was contacted for the first story, but dropped out and was replaced by P.J. Hammond’s Paradise Five who made it to a final script before being rejected.  Then tragedy struck: Robert Holmes passed away on 24 May 1986 before completing Part Fourteen of The Trial of a Time Lord, script editor Eric Saward finished from Holmes’ notes, however arguments with producer John Nathan-Turner over the ending and nature of the Valeyard led to Saward quitting before script editing was complete on the entire six episode block that comprised Serial 7C on 4 June 1986.  As production on 7C, the serial which became The Ultimate Foe and the story being covered today, Terror of the Vervoids, was set to begin in two weeks, there was no time to find a replacement so producer John Nathan-Turner took over Saward’s duties so the production could continue on schedule.

 

Terror of the Vervoids, commissioned as a last-minute replacement for Paradise Five, comes from the minds of Pip and Jane Baker who contributed The Mark of the Rani the previous year and received the brief of murder mystery in space.  While The Mysterious Planet and Mindwarp made liberal use of the trial sequences, Terror of the Vervoids should be praised for using them sparingly as the Valeyard allows the Doctor to dig his own grave and the Doctor objects to the Matrix apparently being tampered with.  Like Mindwarp, there are scenes here that the Doctor insist are wrong: they are different from when he viewed them to prepare his own evidence.  That evidence is the Doctor and future companion Melanie’s interference on the Hyperion III space liner.  Responding to a mayday they arrive as murders begin occurring.  There is a man who is lying about his identity and an agronomist transporting some plants that prove to be a danger to the existence of the human race.  The Bakers’ script is complete pulp, taking bits from mystery writers like Agatha Christie and scientific terms to flesh out the villains to create a script that is in desperate need of an editor.  John Nathan-Turner does the best job he can, but the structure of the murder mystery is poor: there are several red herrings but none of them actually add up to anything of note and the murderer is obvious from the first scene.  The fatal flaw of the script is that the Bakers attempt to craft a mystery where you can go back and figure out who committed the murders, but lack the subtlety of crafting clues and good misdirects.

 

While the murder mystery occurs in the foreground, starting in the second episode the actual Vervoids begin working in the background.  For a story that is promoted as Terror of the Vervoids, they actually do very little terrorizing.  Sure they kill people and the bodies pile up, but the script and production doesn’t take the time to make them feel like there is a real danger.  The tone of the story is inconsistent, adding more humor as per the BBC’s request to get the show back on air.  The supporting cast essentially have one trait which is used mostly for humor with the slight exception of Honor Blackman’s Professor Lasky.  Lasky is good-natured and only brought to the status of memorable character because of Blackman’s performance.  The Vervoids themselves are struck by poor design choices, their heads looking not like plants but a piece of female anatomy.  They bleed into the background of generic Doctor Who villains who time will eventually forget.  The killer plant storyline has been done before and better in stories like The Seeds of Death and The Seeds of Doom, with more inventive twists.  Their defeat is only in the last few minutes of the story, less than a single episode after the Doctor becomes aware of their existence.  While their existence is why Lasky is on Hyperion III, their inclusion feels like an afterthought.  The half-mutated lab assistant reveal at the end of the second episode would have served much better, but sadly is relegated to the women in refrigerators trope.  She gets a name, Ruth, but that’s about it.

 

Terror of the Vervoids introduces Bonnie Langford as Melanie Bush, the companion to replace Peri.  While promotional material would give her full name and backstory as a computer programmer from 1986, the actual episodes just have her there, fully intending to show her first meeting with the Doctor at some point in the future.  While the script could have integrated this into the episode subtly, at the very least mentioning she’s a computer programmer, it leaves Langford to endear herself to the audience.  Bonnie Langford has good chemistry with Colin Baker, however, Mel as a character presented here is fairly weak.  Two of the episodes end with her screams, tuned to the key of F as a talent Langford does.  Langford acts the part well and Chris Clough’s direction attempts to make the audience like her, but the script is too weak.  Overall, however, Terror of the Vervoids can be summed up as bland.  It’s a murder mystery that is fairly boring and really held up by performances from Colin Baker, Honor Blackman, and Bonnie Langford.  The script was clearly rushed and little editing was done creating an experience that is subpar, and a downward turn for a season that was doing so well.  3/10.